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- Linebacker II 12/72 On December 18, 1972 the strategic bombing campaign of North Vietnam began. During the 12 days that followed, over 1300 air strike sorties, including 729 by B-52s, pounded North Vietnam day and night. While Navy sorties were less, Carrier-based A-6s flew
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Category Archives: Testimony of Pilot – RS previously published
Operation Homecoming Part 5: Always Leading and Always Will
by Orson Swindle (USMC, Ret) Prisoner of War in North Viet Nam (Orson Swindle was shot down on November 11, 1966, released on March 4, 1973) Reproduced with permission of USNI and the author … for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity … Continue reading
Posted in Memorials, People, POWs, Testimony of Pilot - RS previously published
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Operation Homecoming Part 4: The Bracelets
(Note: This piece was originally published on the Project White Horse Forum for Veterans Day 2010.) In high school, Joleta McNelis was never far away from a man she had never met. She carried Lt. John “Jack” Ensch in her heart … Continue reading
Posted in People, POWs, Testimony of Pilot - RS previously published
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Gifts & Reflection – No Better Title: “These Good Men”
by John ‘Shylock’ Koch I still cherish the time I spent with the air wing. As I look back on it we were warriors and comrades all rolled up together. When one of us called for help, we all came, … Continue reading
Posted in Testimony of Pilot - RS previously published, War and Remembrance
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Christmas ’72 Stories: (Final) Gifts, a Tree, and a Turkey with all the Trimmings
As the story has been told – as I noted previously- the end of the war in Vietnam is considered the result of the Christmas bombing operations of Linebacker II, and so the convention of telling this story. I’ll end … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas 1972, Testimony of Pilot - RS previously published, Vietnam War, War and Remembrance
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Christmas ’72 Stories: (8) “A-rab Beeper, come up voice.”
Professional history of war mostly addresses major battles, the dates, the generals, the admirals, tactics and technology, and then analysis of results, all for obvious reasons. But significant detail is invariably lost particularly when one event leads to a most significant occurrence … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas 1972, Snako Archive, Testimony of Pilot - RS previously published, Vietnam War, War and Remembrance
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Christmas ’72 Stories: (7) A Gentlemen’s Gentleman
Linebacker II was halted on 29 December 1972. The North Vietnamese agreed to come back to the negotiations in Paris. Having enjoyed Christmas, Midway left Singapore and celebrated New Years Eve at sea on the way back to the Gulf … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas 1972, Memorials, People, Testimony of Pilot - RS previously published, Vietnam War, War and Remembrance
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Christmas ’72 Stories: (6) “We had been there too long!”
As I write this post, it is fast approaching 0659 30 December 2012 in Hanoi – 40 years exactly from the end to Linebacker II. President Nixon’s decision – the Linebacker II campaign – in the face of world wide denunciation and in … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas 1972, POWs, Testimony of Pilot - RS previously published, Vietnam War, War and Remembrance
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Schoolboy: Essence of Winning and Losing (6/6)
Just a little bit of repeat by way of summary to make sure a point or two gets highlighted: Twilight Launch by Jim Horsely, VA-115 pilot On the “day after” – morning of 25 October – USS Midway launched strikes into … Continue reading
Posted in Testimony of Pilot - RS previously published, Vietnam War, War and Remembrance
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Schoolboy – stories from the night of 24 October 1972 (2-5/6)
The stories of the A-6 accident on 24 October 1972 were originally posted on the Project White Horse FORUM beginning with Naval Aviation 100 Years – Part 1: A Bad Night for Schoolboy – A Self-designing, High Reliability Organization. These … Continue reading
Posted in Testimony of Pilot - RS previously published, Vietnam War, War and Remembrance
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Not On My Watch
by Dave ‘Snako’ Kelly Prologue This is a memoir of my personal experiences in Naval (carrier) Aviation and my short but intense involvement in the Air War over Vietnam. Admittedly my perspective is somewhat limited. My tours were at the … Continue reading
Posted in Snako Archive, Testimony of Pilot - RS previously published, Vietnam War, War and Remembrance
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